The launch of Apple's iPhone is just days away and people
are already
starting to camp out for the next "it" device. Close to 400,000 units
could be up for grabs on launch day from 162 Apple Store and roughly 1,800
AT&T locations.

Today, Apple and AT&T announced three rate plans
that will be available for the iPhone.

"We want to make choosing a service plan simple and
easy, so every plan includes unlimited data with direct Internet access, along
with Visual Voicemail and a host of other goodies," said Apple CEO Steve
Jobs. "We think these three plans give customers the flexibility to
experience all of iPhone’s revolutionary features at affordable and competitive
prices."

The entry-level $59.99 plan will get you 450 anytime minutes
along with 5,000 nights and weekend minutes. Stepping up to the $79.99 plan
will get you 900 anytime minutes and unlimited nights and weekends. The
top-level $99 plan gets you 1350 anytime minutes and unlimited nights and
weekends.

Also noted in the press release is that a one-time
activation fee of $36 will be charged for the iPhone. Given the extremely high interest
level for the iPhone, it's likely that not many will bat an eye at the
charge which would usually irritate consumers.

In addition, Apple and AT&T also announced that new
iPhone users will be able to activate their phone through iTunes -- there is no
need to wait at the store to go through the activation process.

"Users will be able to activate their new iPhone in the
comfort and privacy of their own home or office, without having to wait in a
store while their phone is activated," said Jobs. "There are tens of
millions of people in the US who already know how to sync their iPods with
iTunes, and syncing their new iPhone with iTunes works the same way."

"iPhone’s user-driven activation is another example of
how AT&T and Apple have partnered to bring innovative new features to our
customers," said AT&T chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson.
"iPhone’s innovative activation and sync is just one example of how this
is going to be a real industry game-changer."

Apple doesn't own this jerk any response. If he wants answers, then he can buy a iphone or kiss steve's butt in public or what he should actually do is just go away along with all the rest of iphone bashers on this thread. No one is making them buy anything, so stop telling everyone your stupid opinions.

Hello Apple fanatic, welcome to the real world. All those issues are the types of issues that someone how cares about thier network security would ask about a device. I don't think there is any device that yet meets all of those, but some things like the encryption features are 100% necessary for business use.

Evewr heard of Apple's Security Framework? Well, Microsoft has and is using it in Vista. Oh, how about PKI? Apple security framework supports all PKI tokens/cards out of the box no matter what security level. Fanatic? No, just well informed and CISSP certified.

But Apple does owe an response to the public,as a responsible corporation & this guy wants an response from Apple in public forums.

Apple is not a dictator,that YOU DARE NOT ASK A QUESTION !

Buy an Apple or not -the public/prospective buyers have the right to ask QUESTIONS-This is democratic USA !

Every product comes under scrutiny here at D.T. let it be any company-Not only Apple

The same set of questions were put forward to M.S.-they did answer them in full-read below

Analysts: iPhone Has Neither Security nor Relevance

As a means of comparison, Microsoft supplied the answers to Storms' questions for Apple as if he had asked them of Windows Mobile. Microsoft's answers:

Is data encrypted while in transit? Yes, the data is transported using SSL, so it is encrypted during transit

Is data encrypted on the device? No.

Is data encrypted on removable memory? Yes.

Is data removed if the device hasn't checked in centrally, hasn't received a policy update within a time window or if battery power is too low? No. However, please note the Exchange server can remotely wipe the device. The device is also wiped if the password is entered too many times as a security measure.

Is there S/MIME support? Yes.

Is there PGP support? No (need third-party application).

Are there electromagnetic analysis countermeasures? No.

Are there DRM applications (ability to read but not forward data)? Yes, support for DRM for media content and IRM for e-mail (read and create is supported).

Is there user authentication by means of password, passphrase or smart card? Yes. Windows Mobile 6 includes the ability to lock your device and require a password to use the device after a specified period of disuse.

Does the device automatically lock and require authentication to unlock? Yes.

Are the encryption keys stored on the devices, and are they also encrypted? Yes, stored on the device and is possible to encrypt them.

Do the network devices have firewalls? No.

Are the network interfaces disabled by default, and does the user have the ability to disable at will? User can disable.

Is there the ability to remotely lock and disable the device? Yes.

Is there the ability to remotely wipe and back up data? Yes, can wipe but cannot back up data.

Is there the ability to centrally develop and enforce policy settings? Yes.

Is there centralized reporting of all device events—calls made, data transferred and usage statistics? No, not today.